An inspiring moment for Ray Allen on, off the court

February 27, 2013|By Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel

MIAMI — Ray Allen was drained. Playing 41 minutes at age 37 will do that to you, especially when all 21 of your points were needed in what turned into a 141-129 double-overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings.

But as the veteran 3-point specialist took time to soak in the ice tub late Tuesday night, there was a satisfaction that ran deeper than the victory that extended the Miami Heat's winning streak to 12.

It came when he was reminded that 13-year-old Jack Henry was waiting outside to meet with him.

"I thought about it like, 'Wow, this was a great game for him to see,' " Allen said as Tuesday was turning into Wednesday.

Moments later, he was escorting Henry through the locker room and private players' areas of AmericanAirlines Arena, just as he spent time a night earlier with the teen from Iowa at Sun Life Stadium at a Make-A-Wish Foundation event.

Dealing with cystic fibrosis his entire life, Henry's wish was to meet Allen, with his father a longtime Boston Celtics fan.

The shared time was Allen's pleasure. Trying to convert a Celtics fan was another story.

Then came Tuesday's epic game, when Allen shot 5 of 10 on 3-pointers and played the entire fourth quarter as well as every minute of each of the two five-minute overtimes in his best performance in months, tying his season high with eight baskets.

"Jack, his dad grew up a Celtics fan, so I was the one guy he really admired to watch play," Allen said as the last player to dress following Tuesday's game. "And as I talked to him [Monday], he was telling me he's not sure if he's a Heat fan yet, but he's a Heat fan because I'm playing.

"I said, 'You'll come to the game [Tuesday]. We'll just show you a really good time and when you leave here, you'll be a Heat fan,' and the whole family, they're all decked out in Heat gear. It's all their first NBA game, so they'll fly back to Iowa with nothing but warm and fuzzy thoughts and great memories. So I was glad I was able to be a part of that."

For Allen, it has been an up-and-down ride, opening the season with a series of game-defining shots, falling into a midseason lull, and now emerging with a season-best seven consecutive games in double figures.

"The start of the season," Allen said, "everybody was trying to figure us out. And then there's a point where they figure you out, so now you have to find a way to get those shots in your comfort zone."

That, Allen said, began a stretch when he found himself rushing shots. It also was when he stepped back, reassessed.

"It was for me, just that moment of just settling in and relaxing with what was coming and letting the game develop itself," he said.

To coach Erik Spoelstra, it all is part of an evolution.

"At the beginning of the year, the first couple of months, he was doing a lot of this," Spoelstra said of efforts such as Tuesday's. "Now, as we go into the season, yeah, you evolve as a team. He gets more comfortable; we get more comfortable with him. And you start to incorporate more actions, offensively, to try to break him free."

And then there was Tuesday, with 11 points in the fourth quarter offering inspiration to both his teammates and an inspired teen.

"When you need a clutch shot, he is not going to hesitate, make or miss, he will not hesitate," Spoelstra said. "And that's a quality you can't teach."

Deadline approaching

Friday is the deadline for players who have been in the league this season to be waived and have playoff eligibility for another team.

The Heat added Mike Bibby and Ronny Turiaf through the mechanism the past two seasons.

Players who have not appeared in the league this season can be signed any time prior to the end of the regular with playoff eligibility.

The Heat last week dealt center Dexter Pittman to the Memphis Grizzlies to open a roster spot, with it likely to be filled by a veteran with playoff eligibility.

In order for a player to be playoff eligible, he must be waived by his current team by the end of Friday. Such a player then can be signed at any time with playoff eligibility.